A gripping account of East Germany in the late '70s and early '80s and of one man's fated
struggle for freedom. Friday April 10th 1981: 23-year-old Mathias Domaschk boards the fast
train from Jena to Berlin on his way to a birthday party. But he never arrives . . . The
packed train is held up en route and Mathias and three of his friends are apprehended
suspected of being part of a cell intent on disrupting the socialist party congress.
Forty-eight hours later he is dead following interrogation in the Stasi detention centre in
Gera. What happened over those two days? Peter Wensierski's captivating book draws on
multiple witness statements and extensive Stasi documentation to build a riveting and dramatic
account switching between Mathias's journey and the Stasi activities up to and through his
arrest. He also places this tragedy against its broader political and social context to reveal
the lives of a whole generation of young East Germans who just wanted live freely - and the
contempt that the GDR authorities displayed for their humanity. Part reportage part true
crime Generation GDR offers unique insights into the secret corridors of an authoritarian
regime and delivers a powerful warning from history. Translated from the German by Jamie
Bulloch
